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The Detroit Tigers are reportedly not expected to trade ace starting pitcher Tarik Skubal prior to the July 30 MLB trade deadline.
According to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, the Tigers figure to make starting pitcher Jack Flaherty available, but it “seems unlikely” they will move Skubal while he is still under team control for 2.5 more years.
Gonzalez’s report came on the heels of Sports Illustrated‘s Tom Verducci reporting this week that the Los Angeles Dodgers were interested in putting a trade package together for Skubal.
A source told Verducci it was “doubtful” the Tigers would trade Skubal, but added, “Everything has a price.”
The 27-year-old Skubal is in the midst of his fifth MLB season, and he is enjoying a career year, which resulted in his first All-Star selection.
Skubal is among the leading candidates for the American League Cy Young Award by virtue of his 10-3 record, 2.41 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 140 strikeouts over 116 innings.
The lefty missed the first half of the 2023 season after undergoing flexor tendon surgery, but he was similarly dominant when he pitched, going 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 102 strikeouts over 80.1 innings.
Many picked the Tigers as a sleeper team to win the AL Central entering the 2024 campaign, but they haven’t lived up to those expectations, posting a 48-50 record, which has them fourth in the division, 12 games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians.
Detroit isn’t completely out of the playoff mix, as it trails the Boston Red Sox by six games for the final wild-card spot, but it faces an uphill climb.
That means the Tigers very well could be sellers ahead of the deadline, but since they aren’t necessarily far off from being playoff contenders, keeping Skubal for next season would be a sensible move.
As for the Dodgers, they have the second-best record in the National League at 57-41 and lead the NL West by seven games, but injuries have taken a toll on their starting rotation.
Tyler Glasnow, Walker Buehler, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw and Michael Grove are all on the injured list, while Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Emmet Sheehan are out for the season.
While Kershaw is on a rehab assignment and could join the Major League team soon, the rotation is so injury-riddled that manager Dave Roberts is leaning on the likes of Gavin Stone, James Paxton and Landon Knack as his top starters currently.
Skubal would be a massive addition to the rotation, but assuming they can’t make it happen, Gonzalez listed Flaherty, Erick Fedde of the Chicago White Sox, Zach Eflin of the Tampa Bay Rays and Yusei Kikuchi of the Toronto Blue Jays as starters who could potentially be had by the Dodgers via trade.
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